MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Rajagopala Chidambaram, India’s foremost nuclear weapons designer and an important player in both of India’s Pokhran nuclear tests — Smiling Buddha in May 1974 and Operation Shakti in May 1998 — passed away at Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital at 3.20 am on Saturday following health complications. He was 88.
According to those close to him, Chidambaram had sustained a head injury after a fall at BARC in Nov 2024 and had been admitted to Jaslok Hospital. He was discharged but was readmitted because of health issues.
Chidambaram, often called the “Indian Oppenheimer”, was given a state funeral.
The details of the Pokhran-2 tests were fine-tuned at the wedding of Chidambaram’s second daughter at a hall in Mumbai attended by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Chidambaram himself told an audience of nearly 2,000 in Sion in 2015 that as the wedding rituals were in progress, he and Kalam had slipped unnoticed into a nearby room and finalised preparations for the nuclear test.
Referring to Chidambaram’s role in Pokhran-2, Col Gopal Kaushik (Retd), described as the best secrets keeper of the nuclear tests after he hoodwinked the spy satellites, told TOI that during the tests Chidambaram’s code name was “Maj Gen Nataraj”. “Chidambaram was well-versed with the nuances of a nuclear experiment of this magnitude and was instrumental in ensuring only indigenously sourced nuclear material was used for the tests,’’ Col Kaushik (Retd) said.
In 1967, Chidambaram joined the nuclear weapon designing effort, dealing mainly with the metallurgical and physical aspects of nuclear weapons. As a nuclear scientist, his main focus was on high pressure physics, crystallography and materials science.
For India’s first nuclear weapons test, on May 18, 1974, he and his colleague carried the plutonium device in a military truck from Mumbai to Pokhran. He writes in India Rising. Memoir Of A Scientist: “Nobody except us knew which box contained the plutonium. During the entire journey, we would have the beds brought in the truck and slept inside the truck. Since we halted at military officers’ messes en route, the military people thought there was something wrong with us.’’
Born in the erstwhile Madras Province in 1936, Chidambaram, who was an alumnus of Presidency College, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, held several prestigious roles throughout his illustrious career, including being principal scientific adviser to the Union Govt (2001–2018), director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (1990-1993), Atomic Energy Commission chairman, and secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (1993-2000). He was also International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors chairman and served as a member of IAEA’s Commission of Eminent Persons, contributing to the organisation’s vision for 2020 and beyond. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1975 and Padma Vibhushan in 1999.
“Deeply saddened” by his demise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X, adding, “Dr Rajagopala Chidambaram was one of the key architects of India’s nuclear programme and made ground-breaking contributions in strengthening India’s scientific and strategic capabilities. He will be remembered with gratitude by the whole nation and his efforts will inspire generations to come.”
As a world-class physicist, Chidambaram’s research in high-pressure physics, crystallography and materials science significantly advanced the scientific community’s understanding of these fields. His pioneering work in these areas laid the foundation for modern materials science research in India.
Chidambaram was also instrumental in initiating India’s indigenous development of supercomputers and conceptualising the National Knowledge Network.
On Saturday, his body was taken from the hospital to his residence at Deonar where visitors paid their last respects. From there it was moved to the Barc convention centre at Trombay where more people paid homage. At around 6 pm it taken to the Deonar crematorium for the final rites. Top scientists and officials from the nuclear fraternity attended the funeral.
AEC chairman Ajit Kumar Mohanty said: “Dr Chidambaram was a doyen of science and technology whose contributions furthered India’s nuclear prowess and strategic self-reliance. His loss is an irreparable one for the scientific community and the nation.’’
Two months after Pokhran-2, Chidambaram faced a problem. The US State Department denied him a visa to attend a meeting of the American Crystollographic Association in Washington DC because he was a key player in Pokhran-2.
The 41,000-member American Physical Society protested against the decision and Irving A Lerch, director of the society’s international affairs department, was quoted by NYT as saying that even during the height of the Cold War Soviets were granted US visas. After this Chidambaram made a number of trips to the US.
